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The Bible, the promises of the Scriptures, all truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ, all God’s works, all God’s words, the creation-all these things are included in the idea of the name of God. Everything that tells us something about God is the name of God. But when the Bible speaks of the name of God, it refers not just to His titles, but to all His revelation. He is called the Lamb of God, the Star out of Jacob, and even the name Jesus-He shall save His people from their sins. There are many names also given to Jesus. You can probably think of some of them: Jehovah, Lord of hosts, the Rock, and many more. Now, what is the name of God? The Bible gives God many names. In Exodus 15:11 it is put this way: “Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” The holiness of God is the sum total of all His glory and perfection. The holiness of God refers to the infinite distance between God and us. The holiness of God is not just that He is without sin, though there is certainly an ethical aspect to the holiness of God but God’s holiness refers to everything that distinguishes and separates Him as the Creator from His creation and from fallen man. Now, when we say that God is holy, we are not saying that He needs to be separated from the ordinary and the sinful. So you see what it means to be holy-it means to be separated from the ordinary and the sinful in order to serve God. The New Testament word for the children of God is “saints,” which means “holy ones.” In I Corinthians 6:19 our bodies are called the “temple of the Holy Ghost.” When Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary, the angel Gabriel called Him “that holy thing.” God has set aside one day in seven as a holy day of worship to Him. Still today God sets things apart to be holy to Himself. And in the center of them was the Holy of Holies-a room where God dwelt in the Ark of the Covenant and in the shining cloud. The tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament were set apart as holy buildings for the worship of God. One of the twelve tribes of Israel, the Levites, were set apart from all the other tribes to offer sacrifice and worship to God. Old Testament Israel was separated by God from the other nations to be a people holy unto the Lord. There are many examples of this in the Bible. It is to be separated from things that are common and ordinary in order to be devoted to God’s service. To understand this petition, we have to understand what it means to be holy, what the name of God is, and how God makes His name holy. When we pray for the hallowing of God’s name and the coming of His kingdom and the doing of His will, we are praying these for ourselves-that we hallow God’s name, that His kingdom may come to and in us, and that His will may be done by us. Even though the first three petitions have to do with God, they are yet, in a very real sense, for us. The first petition that Jesus teaches us to make in our prayers is this: “Hallowed be Thy name.” As we come to this first petition, you might be thinking that this is rather abstract and distant from your life, that it is not very practical. But the wonder of prayer is that, through Jesus Christ, we can make our requests known to God and He is ready to hear us in our needs. And we do not deserve to be heard by God.
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Really, we do not deserve anything from God. It is a wonderful thing that we can make requests known to God and that Jesus teaches us to make petitions in our prayers. Our prayers should include confessions of sin and of our unworthiness.īut prayers may also include petitions. In our prayers we should be expressing our thankfulness to God for all that He has done. We should also make prayers of praise and adoration. And they divide nicely into two groups of three-the first three dealing with God, His name, His kingdom, and His will and the second three dealing more directly with our needs.Īs we begin to look at the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer, let us remember that our prayers should include more than just petitions and requests. Today we will begin to look at the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. Last week we considered the introductory address of the Lord’s Prayer: Our Father which art in heaven.
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You can find that prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. We have begun looking together at the subject of prayer from the point of view of Jesus’ own instruction in the Lord’s Prayer.